The recipes were fun and interesting..some a bit too esoteric for me...but I liked reading them anyway. And like that they are interspersed with the text instead of in a separate recipe section. There are some fun martini quotes too..

The only drawback, I think, and its minor..is that I just hate the feel of the paper. The cover is fine but the pages feel cheap and grainy to me. Harsh, even... It may be a pleasure to read but it isnt really one to hold. Seems to me a smoother paper would be better, altho probably alot more expensive.

That said...its a fun fun book. Easy to read, in a fiction way, as opposed to a non-fiction way. It has flow sometimes lacking in non-fiction.

I was pleased to receive this book recently as a gift and couldn't wait to peel back the front cover and begin seeing what it had in stock for me. The book was a perfect companion as I'd just gotten a set of 4 martini glasses and a shaker/strainer and was eager to put them to good use. But since my nose was too buried in this concise little text, I didn't have any need for the hardware yet. Since "Shaken Not Stirred" also offered conventional and more modern drink recipies - in an effective layout - I was perfectly willing to go back to it to look up a couple of drink recipes once I'd read up on my background info on the drink. I feel like I am now a true martini aficianado and much better informed!

The book was put together by the authors of a website by the same name, who launched their site on Halloween of '95. Soon, they had gotten many suggestions to put the book together - and it turned out to be an unqualified hit. There are many reasons to like this book, it's easy to read and the words flow, plus its something I'd want to read more than once. But perhaps my favorite part about this original idea for a book (it purports to be the first bar book expressly dedicated to the martini, and backs it up by research done by the publisher) is that it's not just a recipe book or just a list of bars. In other words, all you probably ever need to know in a tight little package. It was also neat finding out I'd already visited some of their best "martini lounges" in my city within the pages, but was eager to try the places I hadn't heard of. I'd recommend this volume to anyone interested in mixing their own drinks, or even wanting to learn a little bit more behind the whole martini or "Swingers" culture.

Now then, care for a cocktail? ;)